The Strange Pyromancer

The sun came up without further incident. Thanks to that strange man's pyromancy, the sand worms had been burned to ash. The surrounding sand had become a bit of a spectacle. The spots where the pillars of fire had come up were now riddled with cylinders of dirty glass, made by the fire mixing with sand.

The Desert Rats had suffered two casualties. The two men had been the ones who had stayed behind to collect the supplies off the camels. Of thirty camels, ten were dead, and three had run off. Due to the disfigurement of the dead men, Emil had chosen to burn their corpses, which he did as the sun appeared on the horizon. The act had caused the usually friendly commander of the group to take on a much more stony expression. The other Desert Rats took part in the funeral by fire, but nobody tried to comfort Emil. The very air around him seemed to radiate a sense of regret and hostility.

And then there was the strange pyromancer who had appeared...

Rosa was tasked with watching him while the group reorganized. But still, she wondered why it had come to this. Emil had bound the man's hands behind his back, and then secured those hands to a wooden post which he hammered into the ground. Besides the initial act of pyromancy, the man showed no ability for hostility. In fact, he had handed Rosa back her staff without resistance and hadn't fought Emil when he was tied up.

So the two had ended up sitting opposite of each other. One bound to a post, the other at a loss for what to do. The time passed slowly, with Rosa taking stock of the man and his belongings from afar.

He had no belongings to speak of, however. His clothes were plain, simple, and unadorned. He had no jewelry, no tools, no food or water. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he had teleported to the desert. He didn't even have a tan from being out in the desert sun. His face and hands were not necessarily pale, but they were unworn and almost handsome. Rosa felt like she was looking at some form of royalty, but his unkempt dirty blonde hair ruined the image, and his clothes hinted that royalty was beyond what he could afford. Just what was this man's story?

The stranger was quiet for the majority of the time. He showed no discomfort from being tied up, and would hum a quiet tune from time to time. Whenever their eyes met, the man would smile in a knowing way, and Rosa would have to avert her eyes for a short while. She felt no hostility from that gaze, and that disarming smile made her feel uncomfortable because her mind immediately went to those pillars of flame lighting up the night.

After a while, Emil came back from his duties and sat next to Rosa. The stranger and him locked eyes, and they both nodded as if with mutual understanding.

Emil was the one who spoke first. "Thank you for saving my remaining men. I am not sure what would have happened if you had not gotten involved."

"No problem," the stranger replied, smiling and closing his eyes. "Glad I could help. I am sorry for the loss of your men. You seem like a good commander, I'm sure they looked up to you."

Emil nodded and scratched his scruffy beard. Rosa felt like some of the coarse black hairs had become grey overnight. "With that said, I am... curious. I have many questions, if you don't mind answering them."

"No problem," the man replied, shrugging. "I don't mind."

"How did you get here?"

"I walked."

Rosa kept quiet. While she was sure there were many ways a person with magical ability could travel, she was expecting a more elaborate answer. Was it really possible for this person to have walked this far with no equipment?

"Why didn't the sand worms attack you during your walk, then?"

The stranger nodded in understanding. "One person doesn't hold much interest to a pack of sand worms, especially someone as light as myself. Now a pack of camels, armed guards, and a lady..." he trailed off. The implied meaning seemed to aggravate Emil, but he left it at that.

"Where is your food and water? A man cannot travel alone in the desert with as little as a cape and some worn down shoes."

The stranger shrugged again. "I don't have any. I like to travel light."

Rosa frowned. These answers were getting them nowhere. The man was obviously not telling the whole truth, but it would take time and man power to search for his means of travel, as well as his supplies. And if he was a talented magician, as Rosa suspected, then they might not find anything. There were many magical utility items, like the refilling canteens. If they were made to be easily hidden, then only the user could find them again.

Emil crossed his arms. "Very well. We're on our way to the city of Dove to deliver several items to the Mage's Library. Would you be willing to accompany us so we can reward you properly?"

Again, the man responded with a shrug. "I don't mind. I don't really have a destination in mind anyway. Though I would like to know your names if I'll be travelling with you." He smiled his disarming smile once more, and Rosa felt her cheeks redden. She decided it must be from the rising desert sun.

Emil stood up and stepped forward. "My name is Emil. I am the leader of the Desert Rats, whom you saved last night. This is Rosa, our travelling mage." He nodded in her direction. While Rosa understood the reason for this, she pouted for not being able to introduce herself. "And how about you?"

The stranger tilted his head for a moment, as if lost in thought, then responded by reaching out his hand. "The name's Cyn. I'm a travelling pyromancer."

Rosa and Emil froze as they saw the presented hand. Not because of the politeness of the gesture, but because the charred remains of the rope that had been keeping the man held down until now. It was as if he had burned the rope in an instant, on impulse no less.

The panic only lasted for a moment before Emil laughed and reached out a hand as well. "As expected of the truly powerful. Casually chatting while pretending to be weak. Nice to meet you, mister pyromancer." The two shook hands begrudgingly for a moment, and then Cyn stood up.

Emil had accepted Cyn as a strong person, and that was easy enough to see, but that was not what troubled Rosa. The charred rope presented many problems from a magical perspective. For one, it was believed that magic could not be invoked without a catalyst, like a wand or staff. Also, the rope was in clear contact with the man's skin, yet he had not been burned by the act whatsoever. Therefore, while the two men seemed happy to get along, Rosa felt like she was looking at someone - or something - greater than the body of magical research she had studied.

An image of a ball of dried grass sitting in a stone bowl flashed through her mind. This man was capable of doing more than that without a staff. What's more, with her burnt elm staff he had managed to kill a dozen sand worms. Just what was this power? Where did this man study such potent pyromancy?

The two men turned to Rosa and she noticed Cyn was reaching out an expectant hand. Reflexively, she reached out and took it, shaking it faintly before letting go. Again she felt no hostility from those actions. More than that, she noticed his hands felt softer than hers. [How can a man who handles fire have hands so soft?] she thought to herself.

---------------------------------

It took another few hours to get the supplies ready. While their camel supply had been roughly cut in half, the provisions were mostly intact. Rosa's tent had been damaged in the sand worm attack, but it was a small price to pay. Several of the Desert Rats crowded around Cyn and thanked him for his actions the night before. With his natural charisma and kind attitude, the pyromancer quickly had several friends amongst the mercenary band. His clear laughter could be heard amongst them as he helped them with their work. At first Emil seemed cautious, but he quickly accepted it without trouble. The man's smile was infectious after all.

Rosa, on the other hand, felt slightly more tense. Cyn was undoubtedly powerful, and she wanted to see how much he was willing to share. As the caravan got up and going, she found herself behind Emil as usual, but behind her was Cyn. She found herself constantly looking back at him.

"Something the matter?" he eventually asked, smiling.

Rosa finally looked him in the eye. "I want to learn more about pyromancy," she told him, her hand on the burnt elm staff.

He laughed then. It seemed louder than before. Rosa felt her cheeks go red again. "I thought so. Your staff said as much. So what have you managed so far? Fireballs? Firestorm? Are you a sun practitioner or a hellfire user?"

Rosa felt her head swim. She had only heard about fireballs in legendary tomes, and even those mentioned the firestorm spell as a legend of its own. This man was talking so casually about those spells? And what was a sun practitioner or hellfire user?

Seeing her confused look, Cyn's eyes seem to dim for a moment and he tilted his head again. "Seems I'm a bit behind the times. How far along is pyromancy these days?"

Rosa usually would have kept quiet about such knowledge, but based on what the man just said, she felt like there was a natural knowledge gap between them. She took in a large amount of air, and started explaining what she knew.

Pyromancy was one of three nearly extinct branches of magic. There were currently only four known pyromancers in the entire continent, and they were barely worth mentioning, scholars who wanted to practice something ancient. The fire pillar spell Cyn had used was considered of a high tier of fire magic. Pyromancers in the country were seen as little more than fancy fire starters, with other magic users favoring practices that were less mana intensive, like enchantment or rune crafting. Of the four, one only knew the magic for forging purposes.

Upon hearing this, Cyn started laughing. "Who would have thought, pyromancy going extinct." His laughter felt like it was mocking her, and Rosa pouted until he was finished.

He smiled again and asked curiously, "so does that mean you're one of the four?"

Rosa shook her head, her brunette curls bouncing on her shoulders. "No, I haven't been able to even make a flame yet..." she trailed off.

The pyromancer put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Truly an unburnt then. Sorry, I didn't realize my taunt last night was that dead on."

Rosa looked down with a mix of depression and shame. While she was confident in her ability to control her mana, pyromancy required something else, and she wasn't sure what it was exactly.

"Well, I can help. Get out your staff. Let's get some fire going." Cyn stated, adopting the air of a teacher talking to a student. "What are you focusing on when you try to invoke your fire?"

"Invoke? Focus?" Rosa asked, pulling her stone bowl and dried grass out, her other hand grasping the burnt elm staff. She felt excited to finally see a breakthrough in her research.

Cyn frowned. "When you use pyromancy, it's not like activating a rune. You have to use the fire within yourself to bring forth flame. Think of the strongest fire you've ever seen. Then imagine that flame is your soul. Then, use that mental projection to invoke the fire with the strength of your will."

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, a small flame floating above his palm. "The staff, which has known fire, can help the invocation process. Let it be your medium between your thoughts and reality.

Rosa closed her eyes and thought about fire. She tried to think of the strongest flame she'd ever seen. Instead, she found her thoughts wandering to the pillars of fire that had saved lives last night. Even as she thought of those flames, she thought of her soul, her essence, being one of those pillars.

Something hot was there; something fiery. It wasn't just her imagination, it felt very real. With her eyes still closed, she gripped her staff, focused her mana, and-

A small -whoosh- could be heard, and she opened her eyes to the fire in her bowl quickly being engulfed in fire. Even as the grass became ash, she felt elation build up in her chest. She looked up to thank Cyn...

Cyn's cloak was on fire like the grass in her bowl. Rosa let out a shriek, and pointed at it. The pyromancer shrugged and passed his hand over the fire, extinguishing it like swatting a fly. He didn't even seem phased, despite his camel groaning underneath him.

The two locked eyes for a moment, and then, for the first time that day, Rosa started laughing too.